Derby County's summer raid of Nottingham Forest has seemed like a waste of money: View | OneFootball

Derby County are fighting for an automatic promotion spot in League One.

The Rams are currently sitting in second place in the third tier, and are six points off of Portsmouth, who top the table.

Paul Warne’s side will be nervously looking over their shoulders though, with Bolton Wanderers behind Derby on goal difference and Barnsley just three points off them. Both have games in hand, too.

Derby’s summer recruitment was always going to be key as to whether they would be pushing near the top of the table or not.

Curtis Nelson and Ryan Nyambe have been the major successes from their signings at the start of the season, however other than that most have been underwhelming so far.

One signing that is arguably one of the more undwerwhelming signings from the summer is Tyrese Fornah.

Fornah move looked a good one at the time

Fornah is a defensive midfielder, who had spent his entire career at Derby’s arch-rivals Nottingham Forest, before he made the move to Pride Park.

The 24-year-old would only make four appearances for the Reds, with the majority of his time at Forest being spent out on loan.

The first of four loans away from the club came with Casa Pia in Portugal, before joining Plymouth Argyle for the 20/21 season. He made 39 appearances in League One for Argyle.

After failing to break into the first team regularly for Forest upon his return, the second half of the 21/22 season he would spend at Shrewsbury Town, again in League One.

An impressive spell in Shropshire allowed Fornah to make the step up to the Championship with Reading. Making 35 league appearances, he could not help save the Royals, as they were relegated.

With Forest in the Premier League, it seemed inevitable that Fornah would leave the City Ground.

Derby seemed a great fit at the time.

Geographically he would not have to move far, and Derby were getting a defensive minded midfielder that they were lacking in their squad, who had played well at Championship level the season before.

It seemed like a no-brainer to sign him for what was more than likely a small fee.

Deal for Fornah now looks a waste of money

But his season at Derby has just got worse and worse.

Having joined in mid-August, he started every game in September, but by October, he was in and out of the team.

After the November international break where he made his debut for Sierra Leone, he came back and was mainly a player who came off the bench.

But by the time it was Christmas, he was barely getting a look in.

Now, he has only played 29 minutes of League One football for the Rams since Christmas Day.

The signing of Ebou Adams from Cardiff City more than certainly has not helped his case, with Adams having a similar profile to Fornah. He has also come in and done excellently, too.

For Derby to have paid a fee for him from their biggest rivals, it now seems like a waste of money with how little he is paying and contributing to the team.